Perhaps this winter will be the winter of the grosbeaks. In the last column, I wrote about the irruption of evening grosbeaks into central and southern Maine. Sightings continue throughout the state. Many people are seeing evening grosbeaks at their feeders for the first time in a decade or more.

December marks the beginning of the winter solstice for us in the northern hemisphere. This year that will happen at 6:12 a.m. Dec. 21. That also marks the end of the Mayan calendar, which will just start another cycle. It will flip over to a new baktun that day as it does every 144,000 days, or about 400 years. No astronomical catastrophe will occur like an asteroid or comet hitting the Earth.

There’s an old saying that you should be careful what you wish for because it might come true. Climbing into my stand on a balmy West Virginia morning I was wishing for cooler temperatures. It was already in the 60s and forecasted to nudge 80 later in the day — hardly good weather for deer hunting. I went out just the same, and was rewarded with a nice doe.

It’s official. A year after some of Maine’s avid trout fishermen rolled out the state’s only fly fishing show, they’re committed to make it an annual event.

It’s official. A year after some of Maine’s avid trout fishermen rolled out the state’s only fly fishing show, they’re committed to make it an annual event.

The first thing I noticed crossing the New Hampshire line on my return to Maine was that the landscape had gone all Wyeth in my absence: Gray and moody — and harsh.

The Upper Damariscotta River Region is one of immense natural beauty, a scenic landscape of bays and islands, salt marshes and mudflats, rivers and streams. Bordered by hills, fields, and forests, the Damariscotta River is a nutrient-rich tidal estuary that is home to a diverse array of marine life, birds and animals.